Iran: Two Prisoners Hanged for “Corruption on Earth”

According to the Iranian Khorasan daily, on Tuesday, April 28, two prisoners were executed at Mashhad central prison (also known as Vakilabad prison). The two unnamed men were supposed to be hanged in public but according to the report, they have been hanged in prison due to the Coronavirus epidemic. Executions in Iran have continued to be carried out even after the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the country.

They were charged with “corruption on earth” for “kidnapping and abusing women”. The report says two other co-defendants in the same case were hanged on April 26, 2018, in public. 

Due to their vague definition, the charges of moharebeh (waging war against God) and “Ifsad fel Arz” or “Corruption on Earth” are used for a wide range of offences. 

Out of 280 people who were executed in 2019 in Iran, at least 9 were charged with moharebeh and/or corruption on earth charges. 

The executions are carried out while the Islamic Republic’s authorities had usually been reluctant to execute people in the Muslims’ fasting month, Ramadan, during the past years. However, several people have been executed in the first days of Ramadan 2020.